A look side the community benefits agreement for the new Nashville MLS stadium.

Michael Schwab/USA TODAY NEWTWORK - TENNESSEE

The Nashville Sports Authority board finalized the sale of $225 million in revenue bonds Thursday to pay for a new Major League Soccer stadium at the city's fairgrounds, following through on action the Metro Council approved in September.

Two separate votes, both unanimous, cleared the way for the bonds to go on the market Feb. 5 and for Metro to begin collecting proceeds Feb. 15.

A rendering shows the proposed Major League Soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds Nashville.

A rendering shows the proposed Major League Soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds Nashville.

Submitted / HOK Architects

The board's action, which included signing off on an agreement between the city and bond underwriters, came one day after Metro presented the city's financing plan to two bond rating agencies, Standard & Poor's and Moody's.

Metro will accrue debt service of around $15.2 million ever year through 2051 when combining interest under the financing plan. The bond sale adds up to total debt service of $424 million through that same period.

The $225 million in revenue bonds will go toward construction of the 30,500-seat stadium, with $50 million in general obligation bonds paying for infrastructure improvements around the site and a new expo center and other facilities at the fairgrounds.

Mayor David Briley pushed for approval the MLS stadium, which was first proposed by former Mayor Megan Barry.

The stadium, which Nashville's MLS expansion team owned by businessman John Ingram will lease from the city, is projected to open in 2021. The team is expected to begin play in Nissan Stadium in 2020.

Work on the stadium is projected to begin in the fall with the demolition of aging sheds and other buildings that will relocate to a new expo center that is under construction.

Project leaders told the sports authority that the stadium is still in the "schematic design phase." Only conceptual renderings have been released so far.

As part of the sports authority's action, the board also approved the plan to pay off the project's debt, which the council had also authorized in the summer.

The Ingram-led ownership group will pay the city $9 million annually to help retire a portion of debt, with revenue collected from sales tax at the stadium and a user ticket tax designed to pay for the remaining debt obligation. The city's non-tax revenue from the Metro general fund would cover the rest if these revenue stream fall short.

The council voted 31-8 in September to approve legislation to demolish existing buildings at the city-owned fairgrounds to clear the way for the stadium and to institute the ticket tax.

In three other actions, the council also voted to rezone 10 acres to allow for an ancillary mixed-used development led by the team's owners, approve a 99-year ground lease between the city and the team for the private development, and sign off on the $50 million in general obligation bonds.

Metro is still fighting a lawsuit filed by stadium opponents that seeks to stop the construction of the stadium. But the city scored a victory in November when a Nashville judge denied an injunction that sought to halt the construction of new expo center building.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.